Fifty Shades Of Grey Matter

The book ''Fifty Shades Of Grey'', a hot ticket among certain women, is now a full-fledged movie. It will probably open big, but, will lose its steam in a few weeks. Movies like these, with the thinnest of plots and loaded with a sex theme, often die quickly. Or, to try to say it in the vernacular of the book's theme: it will shoot its wad very fast....... I know a few women who read the book. But, surprisingly, I know more women who TRIED to read it and saw the gimmick that the author was trying to sell, and stopped around page 30..... I haven't read it myself, so, my thoughts are based on the channeled thoughts of my female galpals. They are strong, intelligent women, who see through the hype and can tell a good, well-written tale from schlock. Without exception, my female friends say the book is trash. Not even readable trash, like a Harlequin romance novel........ I will leave that up to you, if you have read it. The crux of whatever story seems to be the lust filled couple having sex a lot and...... having sex a lot. Some kinky sex is thrown in to spice the pages and have the females reading it getting off . Ok. Not exactly Mark Twain. But, not every story should be that. There always should be the stories that allow you to turn your mind off and not drill too deeply [ahem] into the plot lines. The raunchiness of certain sex acts is in the judgement of the individual performing it. Who am I to tell someone what to do in the bedroom? I do things that may shock some people: dirty, filthy, vile, degrading things. Sometimes, with a partner....... The selling point in this book is not any attempt at romance. We know the guy and gal will fall in love. Some fights will proceed it, and, I'm sure, there is a heart-tugging moment or two. Cheap thrills. The bondage scenes, though, seem to be what women have fixated on. The guy, surely one swinging hunk of a man, gets the women off in ways unknown to her in her life before him. He has to be the Dream Guy. An average looking lug would not do. This is a romance novel, mind ya. And, his kinkiness is very attractive. Never mind that most people who are into really weird sex look like inbred carnival worker rejects. These people should not even be naked inside the privacy of their own homes, let alone at a nude beach. But, this is romance, my dear students, a hot romance!!! We suspend all rational ways of thinking to get your rocks off. And, apparently, many women have...... It has always been my thinking that women are much maligned in terms of their sexual freedom. The old stereotype of if a man plays around and is sexually liberated, then he is to be admired, a real ''player''. But, if a woman does the same, then she is shamed as a ''slut.'' However, it must be said, this double standard in society is practiced more by women than men. Men never use the term ''slut''. Women do in a put-down fashion. While with the right hand, women crave and believe in sexual freedom, the left hand is telling them that those women should be criticized. So, you can't have your cake and eat it too....... The audience for this must be examined, as all audiences are when something catches on. Men have avoided the book, and, as I have said, many women gave up in the initial attempt at reading. So, who is the remaining audience that likes it? My guess, a humble male guess, is that it is women, mostly suburban women, who have, not a bad sexual life, but one that has gone stale. Usually, that comes with age. We all slow down, despite our best efforts, in this department. And, possibly, the women who love this novel are feeling that slow down. So, a jump start is needed in their libido. Beneath all of the huffing and puffing of these characters in the book may be the connection between the fictional people and the very real-life people, who are suffering the loneliness and dreams that never did come true. They settled not for the Knight In White Shining Armor, but, rather, an average guy, who despite his best efforts, will always remain an average guy. This is not meant to imply that the woman reader is somehow being selfish or demanding. Quite the contrary, some sympathy is needed. We all have fantasies. But, if your fantasy is rooted on not being fulfilled in other areas of your life, then, naturally, it will spill over into your sexual and love life. I say this as an observation, not as a criticism....... Perhaps, I am delving into something that really doesn't need much analysis. It is a book and a movie, pure and simple. For some that could not follow the complexities and nuances of the shallow people who made up ''Sex And The City'' [That last line has my tongue firmly implanted in my mouth]. To each his or her own always with entertainment. Many women will go joyfully to this movie opening weekend, pledging solidarity with their fellow sisters in print who embraced this novel. Never mind its merits. Never mind it is beneath the audiences intelligence. The book, and possibly, the movie, touched something that is in all of our nature's. Stimulation for the joys of physical love....... If I was a single guy I would camp out in the lobby of the theater after the movie ends. You will have some horny women leaving........ Wait, I am single...... Gotta go........